Contents

Students begin their life at Akademeia as trainees. Those deemed as having potential are promoted to Class Agito Cadet and train to become saviors of Orience. Cadets also receive a number of enticing freedoms and privileges, so trainees are encouraged to strive for excellence The administration then divides the cadets among Classes First through Twelfth in order to better hone their skills, and each class is distinguished by color. For example, before they transferred, Machina wore indigo with Class Second, and Rem used to don a pink cape in Class Seventh.

However, through the efforts of Dr. Arecia Al-Rashia, Sorcery managed to create a special team of cadets outside of the class framework at Akademeia. This elite group, known as Class Zero, wears crimson capes to symbolize the Vermilion Bird that defends the dominion. Legend has it that several Classes Zero have existed in Akademeia's past, but no records exist, and none alive today possess any firsthand information about such a group.

Over the course of their training, the current Class Zero visited Akademeia with Dr. Al-Rashia on two separate occasions. Although they spent most of their time at a remote facility away from the main campus, the twelve members of Class Zero could not escape the prying eyes of their fellow cadets. Many students took note of the heretofore unseen crimson capes, and rumors of a mysterious "new class" spread like wildfire throughout the school.

The latest twelve members of the Class Zero, along with the recent transfer students Machina and Rem, and associated members Tiz and Joker, are referred to in the Nameless Tome as the sixteen loci who will take form as human beings a certain point in time and determine whether they have the strength to prevent Tempus Finis and open Etro's gate. Nameless Tome is an anthology of anonymous letters sent to the four peristylia long ago, and is said to talk about Agito and Tempus Finis—the fabled savior of Orience from the apocalypse. Throughout the majority of Arecia Al-Rashia's experiments, she abandoned four loci and retained the twelve who became the members of Class Zero.

He bears of the power of acceptance. A blond boy who wields a deck of cards. Despite being only 16, Ace has a mature speech and attitude. He is considered calm but can be reckless and act out of anger. He doesn't think twice defending his friends from trouble. Ace is reserved toward people outside of Class Zero. Ace likes chocobos and spends time in the Akademeia chocobo ranch. Sometimes when he naps in the class's back garden he dreams of vague memories of someone whom he is meant to have forgotten.

She bears of the power of kindness. A brunette girl who wields a flute. Deuce's cape wraps around her neck and shoulders like a scarf. Deuce is loyal to her duties in Class Zero. She is kindhearted and good-natured, but can be stubborn. When she sets her mind to something, she is going to get it done. Normally, Deuce treats everyone she meets with respect and kindness, making concessions to avoid conflict, but once she makes up her mind she refuses to budge.

He bears of the power of knowledge. A blond-haired youth armed with a bow, as opposed to the other cadets, he wears protective archery equipment, including a leather archery glove on his right hand and a chest guard. Calm and well-mannered, he gives advice to his comrades in Class Zero and is loquacious. While he and Queen are the "brainiacs" of the class, Trey often goes on rants and gives encyclopedic explanations to a variety of things as opposed to Queen, who is straight to the point. Trey's tendency to over-explain and his patronizing tone get on his classmates' nerves. Though he sometimes finds himself envying his adoptive siblings, he always frames it as being superior to them.

She bears of the power of valor. A magicite pistol-wielding girl, she has short, flared red hair, blue eyes, and equips a red satchel backpack. Cater is confident, direct and competitive. She prefers to face things head-on. Her motto is "Trust your instincts, don't think", though this doesn't always work out for her. She can be nosy and to gossip with fellow classmates. She is clear about what she wants and confident she can obtain it. She tends to be impulsive, hates losing, and she refuses to let anyone or anything get her down.

She bears of the power of innocence. A young lady with brown, braided hair, Cinque fights using a mace. Her naive and childish personality, combined with her unpredictable actions, can repel those outside of Class Zero. She enjoys giving people nicknames, such as calling Ace "Acey," Machina "Machy," Rem "Remski," and Mog "Moglin". Cinque has absolute trust Class Zero's adoptive mother, Arecia Al-Rashia, who raised them, and trusts her judgment. Knowing that Mother believes in her gives Cinque the reason to keep going. Despite looking and acting like an innocent girl, Cinque shows her intention to kill during missions.

She bears of the power of tenacity. A silver-haired girl who wields a scythe, she isn't good with words but has good judgment. Her cape is always tattered. Her rough speech gives her a tomboy-like personality and her outlook on life is cynical: as far as she's concerned, the strong survive and the weak perish. That doesn't mean she is heartless, and Sice does care about her classmates, but doesn't show it the same way most people do. Instead, she believes in "tough love" by pushing others to be stronger to ensure they can look after themselves.

She bears of the power of discernment. A gray-haired girl who carries an extending whipblade. Seven is the only Class Zero member who does not wear a red mantle, most likely due to her fighting style. Although reticent and seemingly cold, Seven is caring of other people and thus popular with the female underclassmen. Because she is trusted to do things reliably, they often come to her with their requests and she has a hard time saying no to them. Seven is keen on others' emotions.

He bears of the power of tranquility. A young martial artist with short auburn hair who fights with Knuckles, Eight is loyal to his adoptive mother and feels honored of having been picked by her. When Arecia's reputation is on the line, he feels he cannot mess up and risk discrediting her. Eight is sensitive about his height, being the shortest boy in the class, but generally holds a calm and rational demeanor. Eight despises weaponry because weapons trivialize the human lives they take. He has a keen perception of everything happening around him, which allows him to make judgments on the fly. Even though he tries to keep his emotions in check at all times, Eight has a competitive side.

He bears of the power of action. Nine is an impulsive young man with a scarred face and disheveled uniform who wields a spear. As a member of Class Zero he wears their uniform, albeit his is disheveled with the jacket left unfastened, and his trousers slouching over his shoes. Nine is straightforward, viewing the world in black and white and only feels satisfied when things are uncomplicated. Although he has a foul mouth and is considered stupid by fellow classmate Queen, his courage boosts Class Zero's morale on the battlefield. Though easily angered and quick to lash out at others, he bears love for the class's adoptive mother, Arecia Al-Rashia, respect for his classmates, and pride in his country.

He bears of the power of ignorance. Jack is a young man with coiffed blond hair who fights using a katana. He wears a brown belt around his waist, allowing him to sheath his weapon. Rarely seen without a smile, Jack is the class clown. Whatever situation he comes across, he gets through it with a positive attitude, often using the occasional joke or words of encouragement to lighten the mood. His immaturity stems from his belief of it being up to him to cheer up everyone when they encounter the occasional slump. His swordsmanship skills, however, reveal a more stoic nature. After telling a good joke, Seven points out Jack is "always smiling on the outside but never on the inside", leading the latter to conclude someone finally understands him.

She bears of the power of wisdom. Queen is a dignified young woman with long black hair and trademark glasses who wields a sword. She has a dignified position among her comrades due to her intelligence and sense of justice. She immerses herself in books, and is practical and logical, known for saying cruel things to others in the name of being realistic. In actuality, Queen does so in favor of her classmates: being one of the older students she cares for the others as a sisterly figure. Her leader-like mannerisms and behavior lead others to tease her with the nickname "class leader" ("class president" in the Japanese release).

He bears of the power of judgment. King is a young man who looks cold, but is actually kindhearted. He wields dual guns and wears the standard uniform of Class Zero, but his jacket is shorter and he never fastens it. The reticent King prefers to take action rather than waste time exchanging ideas. Even in matters of life and death, he maintains his composure. He trains every day and possesses a serious demeanor and strong common sense. He is rarely the one to speak first, letting the others to do the talking.

He bears the power of fear. Machina is a newly added member of Class Zero who wields twin rapiers. Machina is a seventeen-year-old boy with dark hair and green eyes. He is brave and powerful, traits which had him transferred into Class Zero, but is plagued by insecurities. Due to being a recent recruit he isn't assigned a number. Despite great proficiency in magic and his straightforwardness, Machina fears war and death. As Rem Tokimiya's childhood friend, Machina is protective of her. Being placed in Class Zero, Machina becomes insecure when he is no longer the best in his class, and strives to prove himself. He longs to become stronger to be able to protect people, and when told not even Class Zero can save everyone, he vows to surpass his new classmates.

She bears the power of love. Rem is a newly added member of Class Zero who wields twin daggers. Due to being a recent recruit, she doesn't have a number. Rem is a seventeen-year-old girl with shoulder-length brown hair and red eyes. Rem is moral, kind and honest, and has an outstanding talent for magic. Mature and rational, she serves as a pillar of support and calming factor for her childhood friend Machina, trying to be cheerful, encouraging, and level-headed, even through tough times. She is emotionally resilient, loyal, and considerate of her friends' feelings, striving to hide her own pain to not burden her classmates. Rem cares for Machina, and looks out for him.

The mysterious Joker and Tiz would appear to fill the missing No.00 and No.10 positions, but are not actually members of Class Zero despite wearing the same uniform. Like Machina and Rem, they were to become Agito alongside Class Zero, but were removed from Arecia Al-Rashia's experiment and now report to her in relation to the repeating cycle of Orience. They respectively represent suffering and age.

The original twelve members of Class Zero arrive to liberate Akademeia.

The last known Class Zero was a 100 years ago, but was brought back in the year 833. The latest Class Zero was formed from a group of Arecia's adopted children who became students in Akademeia. Agito Cadets are part of Operation Apostle as per the wish of the Vermilion Bird Crystal whose peristylium is located in the academy. Its purpose is for the members to become Agito, saviors prophesied in Oriencian mythology to appear during the end of of the world with the potential to open Etro's gate, the gateway to to the unseen realm expiring souls pass through.

Akademeia's archsorceress and the Class Zero cadets' adoptive mother, Arecia Al-Rashia, has seen the events repeat over six hundred million times with the conclusion where the members of Class Zero become l'Cie—servants of the Crystals of Orience—and die in battle. Orience is destroyed by the Rursan Reavers while the Arbiter collects their phantoma, the life energy or "souls" of all living beings, and the spiral is restarted in wait for the next Tempus Finis.

In the 600,104,972nd repeat of the spiral Rubrum is again invaded by the Militesi Empire. The secretive Class Zero is deployed to liberate the capital, and thus begins the chain of events leading to Finis. The empire deploys crystal jammers to the battlefield, cutting Rubrum's forces off from the Vermilion Bird Crystal rendering them vulnerable. The cadets of Class Zero are the only ones able to circumvent its effect due to being augmented by Arecia to wield magic independent of the Vermilion Bird. The cadets are deployed to take down the jammers, as well as Qun'mi Tru'e, a White Tiger Secundus l'Cie.

Kurasame throws Nine off.

Class Zero's efforts liberate Akademeia, and the administration is so impressed with the results the class is officially admitted to Akademeia with Kurasame Susaya as their commanding officer with two new recruits, Machina Kunagiri and Rem Tokimiya, added into their ranks. The first time the cadets meet their CO they are shocked and disapprove taking orders from someone other than Mother, but Kurasame puts the cadets in their place by showing off his battle prowess.

Arecia disdains the new cadets, deeming the duo inferior to her children, and asks Ace to not tell the two of phantoma's true nature; the substance the cadets harvest from felled enemies that allows them to use magic and thus circumvent the empire's crystal jammers. Class Zero is deployed to help retake the areas the empire had conquered, and the Kingdom of Concordia allies with Rubrum against the imperial oppression. Class Zero's infamy spreads and imperial forces begin calling them "red devils." Class Eleventh begins compiling combat data from Class Zero's missions to improve Rubrum's magic.

When the dominion sets out to reclaim Togoreth Stronghold from the empire, the cadets are deployed on a top secret Code Crimson mission to retrieve classified documents on phantoma research under the guise of saving the local civilians. They find the civilians killed, but gather the classified documents before Togoreth is obliterated by a battle between l'Cie.

When the cadets are sent to sabotage the imperial magitek armor program they get orders to cease fire due to a newly wrought armistice mid-mission. Kurasame travels to the imperial capital as Chancellor Khalia Chival VI's aide and negotiates for the cadets' safety, and afterward explains the situation to them: the empire had proposed peace before the cadets' mission was underway, but they could not contact them in time to halt it. The cadets disagree with the treaty, especially Machina, positing that the empire has no right to ask for peace for being the initial aggressor.

The cadets bow to Queen Andoria.

The cadets meet Queen Andoria of Concordia who explains that peace is the Will of the Crystals, and that the cadets' opposition would only lead to Tempus Finis, and points them out as "the final cog." A Crystal is located in each peristylium of Orience from where they bestow each nation with a blessing and power to its citizens. Said to have been found long ago, they act as a means of political power, allowing their people to rule over their lands with a means of protection from invasion, and to inspire hope. Those chosen by the Crystal become l'Cie and gain extraordinary powers and immortality, but becoming l'Cie is considered akin to losing one's humanity.

Machina struggles accepting that what they have been fighting for is against the Crystal's will, and the queen speaks to him under his breath so no one else can hear. After she leaves, Queen asks what she had said, but Machina shakes his head and says it was something about "a choice" but that it didn't make sense to him.

Class Zero's members are forced to contend with Rubrum's higher ups, who feel threatened by the class's loyalty to Arecia, and attempt to send the cadets on what they intend to be suicide missions. Akademeia's officials manipulate Machina's fear of losing people close to him to learn Arecia's true agenda. He is called away to speak with the commandant who jogs Machina's memory of his late brother Izana and claims Arecia and Class Zero are responsible for his death, as they had had Izana's mission changed during the liberation campaign. The commandant explains that Machina was transferred into Class Zero to report on the cadets and Arecia's actions. The commandant wants to use Machina to bring about Arecia's downfall, and uses the threat of leaving Rem alone should Machina fail in his espionage, knowing Machina would do anything for her.

After the cadets return to Hotel Armada during the ceasefire, Machina and Rem feel their powers fading, identifying it as the effect of the crystal jammer. Everybody is alarmed as they realize they have walked into a trap, and Aria Luricara, the class orderly, is shot by a sniper. Machina urges everyone to scatter to avoid Aria's fate, and the cadets fight their way through the streets of Ingram to escape the city while berating themselves for not having caught to the conspiracy sooner.

After retreating underground the cadets overhear Militesi soldiers mention Class Zero has assassinated Queen Andoria. The cadets are shocked, but realize that while they remember meeting a queen, they remember nothing else of her, meaning their memories must have been erased. This indicates she has truly died, as one of the "blessings" the Crystals bestow onto mankind is the erasure of the memories of the dead from the living. Unsure what is going on back in Rubrum, Queen points out it being odd they had been given leave in Ingram rather than sent back to Akademeia. Machina is upset at the possibility they have been abandoned on purpose, as they fail to contact Central Command.

Deuce holds her ground against Celestia's dragon.

After defeating Vajra, the magitek armor sent to destroy them, the cadets face off against Celestia, Queen Andoria's aide, who, likewise, holds them culpable for the regicide. She sends her dragon at the cadets and defeats Machina and Rem, but Deuce stops the others from attacking it. Celestia calls the dragon away, and the cadets explain their side of the story. As the dragons believe them, Celestia helps the cadets escape the city to a deserted house in the Old Lorica Region, an unconscious Machina being carried back by Nine.

Machina and Rem recover and join the others at the bonfire outside the deserted house, although Machina has an eerie feeling they are being watched. After learning the others had saved him Machina is far from grateful and accuses Class Zero for his brother's death. The situation escalates and the others call him spoiled and that he should get over it seeing that he can't even remember his brother due to the Crystals erasing the memories of the dead.

Machina leaves with Rem chasing after him. Rem says Class Zero can't be expected to save everyone despite all their strength, but Machina retorts he will save Rem before storming off to patrol the area alone. The cadets stay put overnight pondering why Machina got so angry with Rem apologizing for his behavior. Eight speculates their communications have been halted on purpose by some kind of jammer.

The morning comes and as the others get ready to leave Machina behind, he shows up. When asked what happened, Machina mentions "the White Tiger," but is cut off when Deuce exclaims the COMM is working and she has reached the dominion. The cadets communicate their location and get picked up by a dominion airship on Kurasame's orders.

Back in Akademeia the cadets are greeted by Kurasame who says there will likely be an investigation, and implies the cadets switched off their COMM to avoid being contacted. The cadets find the accusations ridiculous. The commandant, who holds a grudge against Class Zero for having stolen the limelight as the saviors of Rubrum from his legions, is angered Kurasame sent help to Class Zero, and assigns him a suicide mission saying that good results would clear Class Zero's name. It is suggested that Kurasame is aware the Akademeia officials regard both him and Class Zero as expendable, but accepts the mission regardless.

Class Zero's reputation bruised, the cadets of other classes become ambivalent toward them, not knowing what to make of the rumors. Some believe the queen's assassination to have been a ploy to frame Rubrum, while some go as far as to suspect Class Zero cadets are Militesi spies. Class Zero tries to ignore the allegations and focus on the war effort, and helps reclaim the Eibon Region in a battle against Militesi forces.

The cadets wonder where Machina is.

After the cadets return they assemble in the classroom to hear their next orders from Kurasame, but Machina has gone missing. Kurasame explains to the rest the upcoming battle plan against the joint Militesi-Concordian forces, as the new King of Concordia has allied with Marshal Cid Aulstyne of the empire and the dominion faces invasion from two fronts.

Class Zero is to be sent with the Vermilion Bird Primus l'Cie Lord Zhuyu to fight off the Concordian dragons with an airship fleet. Kurasame will accompany the rest of Rubrum's legionaries, as well as Akademeia cadets and trainees, to the Militesi border for the Vermilion Bird Secundus l'Cie Lady Caetuna to summon a Verboten Eidolon. Two l'Cie taking part in Rubrum's military operations simultaneously is unheard of, and many see it as a sign of the dominion's, and thus the Vermilion Bird Crystal's, desperation, as by now the other Crystals of Orience have been subjugated by the empire that has devised a machine to enslave them.

As Class Zero is about to be sent to the eastern front to battle the Concordian wyverns, Naghi Minatsuchi from the intel squad meets them at the airship landing with orders that some of the cadets are to be sent to the western front as reinforcements to battle the empire. Machina still hasn't returned, and the others are forced to go without him. Three cadets head to the west while the others enter the battle for the eastern front.

The cadets face Shinryu Celestia.

The cadets down Concordian wyverns with cannons until the Azure Dragon Crystal Primus l'Cie Soryu crystallizes the clouds with her ice breath attack. Soryu is distracted by Lord Zhuyu, and the cadets traverse the crystalline cloud terrain on foot. Celestia, now an Azure Dragon Secundus l'Cie having inherited her Focus from the late queen, transforms into Shinryu Celestia to take them out. The cadets prevail with help from Arecia who sends a Bahamut ZERO to aid them should they fall. The victorious cadets are picked up by Naghi and wonder how the battle on the western front is turning out.

The battle against Milites is not going well. The three cadets sent to back the dominion arrive at the Staging Point to meet with Kurasame who explains the empire will likely deploy a crystal jammer, meaning Class Zero will be Rubrum's only functional unit. Thus, Kurasame has authorized the cadets to recall their classmates from the Concordian front. The cadets destroy the jammer allowing for Lady Caetuna to begin summoning Alexander for which Kurasame and the other Akademeia cadets give their lives to complete the summoning. When Class Zero retreats the cadets run into Gilgamesh Ashur.

While Class Zero evacuates Alexander obliterates the Militesi forces, and Caetuna enters crystal stasis, a sign her servitude to the Crystal is complete. Class Zero visits the numerous new graves in the Akademeia cemetery, but cannot comprehend the losses as all memories of Kurasame, as well as the others perished, have been removed from them. Ace sings the song Arecia used to sing to them as children, imploring them to move on. Rem laments her inability to cry over losing Kurasame, as she cannot remember him. The cadetmaster announces that due to its unique nature Class Zero is not assigned a new commanding officer. Instead, Moglin, the class moogle, takes over the role of giving briefings.

Naghi joins Class Zero.

Donning his new red cape Naghi meets the cadets to tell them he has joined Class Zero, as he has been assigned by dominion intel to report on them. The others are baffled, but Naghi explains he doesn't want to hide anything because he considers Class Zero his friends.

After the dominion invades the Kingdom of Concordia with Class Zero's help, Quon Yobatz, a cadet of Class Third and magic enthusiast, wants to join Class Zero. His research has let him in on the knowledge that Class Zero is the only class in Akademeia to harvest phantoma. Nine and Queen are shocked Quon is privy to such confidential information, but Queen lets him join.

Carla Ayatsugi, an elite student or entrepreneurial nature, joins the class after the cadets have invested enough gil in her business. The cadets are at first ambivalent to let someone as greedy as Carla join the class, but they have little choice as she is close to the administration and has pulled some strings to get her the class's red cape.

Because of his half-Lorican ancestry, the Crystal no longer grants Ryid Uruk the ability to use magic when he reaches a certain age. Thus he is required to leave Akademeia and given a post outside the war effort. Trey suggests that he can help by training candidates at Akademeia and passing on his skills, and Ryid joins Class Zero.

Class Zero's efforts in helping turn the tide of battle to the dominion's favor clear its name and the cadets regain the support of the legionaries and fellow cadets on the eve of the final march against the empire. As the final showdown against Cid Aulstyne looms near, Central Command deploys all other classes while Class Zero is to remain on standby. When Moglin finally receives the marching orders, the class is sent to Ingram to help conquer the imperial capital, as the dominion legions were faced with fierce resistance. Casualties mounting, the dominion advance has halted just outside the imperial headquarters.

The class faces off against Bashtar's Gabriel Omega.

Dominion Central Command begins deploying reinforcements by the squad, but as Class Zero is to be deployed, Machina disappears after having a chat with Rem over the reasons they joined the class. Class Zero goes without him and bests General Qator Bashtar, the empire falls, and Orience is united under the Vermilion Bird's banner. However, as the cadets return to Akademeia they find its cadets and legionaries slain by the newly appeared Rursan Reavers—mysterious magitek soldiers that appear immortal—and the dominion commanders gone: Tempus Finis has begun.

Other cadets reveal the once Code Crimson missions, which Class Zero partook, making the remaining cadets turn against them, blaming them for the ensuing apocalypse. Rem, who had been concealing a terminal illness from the others, collapses. Nine curses Machina still being missing since Rem needs him. Arecia explains the cadets have lived their lives according to the Will of Crystals recorded in the Akashic Records, but now that the "souls have been released" they can write their own ending, as humans have the power to decide how they live or die, hinting at a vital decision the cadets would soon need to make.

Queen tells them about the Judge who resides in the newly appeared sanctuary, Pandæmonium, to make the Final Decision: if there is no Agito, Orience will be destroyed by the Rursus. The cadets plan to infiltrate the sanctuary to speak to the Judge while knowing that without Arecia they will not be revived if they fall in battle. Celestia delivers news that Cid has gone to Pandæmonium and become Agito. She offers to take the cadets there as only a l'Cie can open the way, the Vermilion Bird Crystal currently being without one as Zhuyu sublimated in a battle against the Rursus.

After taking the cadets to Pandæmonium Celestia loses her humanity and turns into Shinryu Celestia for having defied the Focus given to her by the Azure Dragon Crystal. As the cadets head to the top of the temple guided by Cid's voice, the Vermilion Bird Crystal asks them to become l'Cie. If they accept the cadets are slain by the Rursus, Arecia deems it yet another failed experiment, and the spiral is restarted.

If they choose to remain mortal, the Vermilion Bird brands Rem, still slumped in Arecia's office back in Akademeia, in their stead. The Crystal sends her to intercept a White Tiger l'Cie it had sensed in Pandæmonium, wanting one of the Vermilion Bird to become Agito. As Rem engages the l'Cie she is impaled by his rapier, and it turns out the l'Cie was Machina who had willingly inherited Qun'mi's Focus to become strong enough to protect Rem. He had run into a dying Qun'mi while patrolling the woods of Old Lorica Region alone, and taken on her powers. As Rem dies, both enter crystal stasis, the cadets mourning the sight when they happen upon their crystal.

Class Zero's last moment.

Class Zero receives Machina and Rem's help in spirit to defeat Cid, who has become the Rursan Arbiter, the Judge that decides Orience's fate. Despite being deemed unfit to be Agito, the cadets vanquish the Arbiter by absorbing his phantoma. With the Arbiter gone Tempus Finis stalls, Pandæmonium disappears, and the cadets appear back in their old classroom in Akademeia.

Despite ending the war and saving the world, the twelve members pay for with their lives as their phantoma were destroyed. On the verge of death, Ace calms the others and the group spends its final moments talking of all the things they wanted to do in a world free of war.

Tiz and Joker.

The mysterious Joker and Tiz have secretly overseen Class Zero's actions and convince Arecia to revive Machina and Rem from crystal stasis. Arecia listens to the class's souls and learns that the cadets made their own decision to how to meet their end and do not wish to be revived. Deciding to allow the people of Orience to remember the dead, Arecia abandons her search for Etro's gate and departs from Orience. The light of the Crystals fades.

Arriving to find the other cadets dead, Rem comforts a guilt-ridden Machina for his perception of them. Without the Crystals Orience falls into a dark age, but Machina and Rem honor their classmates' deeds by recording their names in history fifty years later while rebuilding the post-war Orience.

In the alternate ending, Arecia removes the Crystals from Orience's history, preventing the war and Class Zero's demise from happening.

The fourteen class members are the playable characters. Each has their own playstyle: some are fast, some are slow, some are ranged, some specialize in close-combat, and they have different proficiencies in magic use. The player can equip their party with weapons, accessories, and abilities, one ability slot being reserved for a support or defensive-type skill.

The player chooses the leader of their party of three, and party members can be changed manually or when the leading one is KO'd. Players can determine enemies' weak points with Breaksight and Killsight, allowing them to deal a deathblow or stun them.

The Altocrystarium powers up the characters' magic using an energy called phantoma harvested from defeated enemies. Party members share the same spells, but their strength depends on the user's magic stat: one with low Fire magic can only use Fire-level magic, whereas those with high-level Fire magic stat can use the Firaga variants of the spell. Magic comes in three elemental types: fire, ice, and thunder. The various spells differ in attack pattern and call method. Other elemental magic is also available, but is categorized as 'Advanced' in the Altocrystarium. Such spells are Bio, Tornado, Quake and Holy.

Firaga BOM.

Characters and Eidolons learn their individual abilities via AP won through leveling. Acquiring new abilities may unveil more advanced abilities that will strengthen each character or summon according to their fighting style.

Eidolons replace the summoner who is KO'd when they use the summon. Eidolons can be directly controlled by the player. Triad Maneuvers are group combination skills that require three members to pull off. They are weaker than summons, but don't sacrifice a character.

Ace is meant to be a beginner-friendly character. He wields a deck of cards and has a quick ranged battle style where he throws them at his enemies. Ace has low HP, but overcomes it with excellent evasion. Ace, after summoning his weapon, is the only character whose dodging changes to teleportation. With his teleporting dodge, he can easily pass through enemies and even allies for easier escape when cornered.

Deuce in battle.

Deuce plays the flute and has many damaging point-blank and long-range melodies in her arsenal, allowing her to play defensively or offensively. Playing her offensively requires players to take a risk, while playing defensively allows Deuce to buff her allies or debilitate her opponents. While computer-controlled allies normally attack a different enemy than the party leader, they will attack the enemy Deuce is targeting, making her useful for hard missions.

Trey wields a bow and has the best range. His shots are quick and accurately deadly, but he moves slowly. He charges his attack manually and can make use of barriers for cover while firing at enemies. Trey can charge his attack and move about before unleashing his shot, giving him advantage in exploiting Breaksight or Killsight. With his charged attack, his arrows travel faster and deal greater damage. Trey has no combo with normal attacks, but his repetitive drawing allows for short attack action time, allowing him to dodge instantly after an attack. His role is more like a sniper, exploiting enemies' weaknesses and vulnerability from further away.

Cater wields a pistol that shoots magically-enhanced bullets that inflict various kinds of damage. She fires quickly, moves fast, and can dodge with ease due to a passive ability that allows her to quickly cancel her current action. Her attack patterns vary; she can either shoot constantly and finish with a charged shot, or she can remain idle, let her attack charge up, and fire the charged shot. She has good magic stats, though with her ability to fire bullets of all three elements one needs not equip her with offensive magic, and instead, can equip her with Cure.

Cinque in battle.

Cinque wields a mace. She deals heavy damage and can charge up her attacks, but her strength comes with the cost of slow movement speed when using her weapon. It requires timing for Cinque to be able to dodge, attack in the right direction, and finish off enemies, whether by Killsight or her own strength. She is restricted to close-range attacks, but her strength will make her useful against enemies with high HP, like magitek armor.

Sice wields a scythe and has a hit-and-run aggressive battle style characterized by her ability to chain her attacks. Her regular attack is a melee combo that allows her to glide around by using the analog stick, enabling her to strike, then move away from the enemy. Her time latency between each combo is balanced. Sice can change her attack patterns considerably and easily, but is hard to master.

Seven wields a whipblade able to extend and contract, damaging enemies at both close and long range. Her fighting style allows her attacks to cover a wide area. Seven is static when attacking since her whipblade has a wide range. Her attack action time gets longer the more combos she chains, but her attacks are fast and easily stagger enemies, making an opening for other characters to attack as well.

Eight's Exploding Fist.

Eight fights with kicks and punches. Directional inputs with the control stick allow him to execute a variety of moves at no cost of the ability gauge. The player can cancel Eight's attacks to make infinite combos, as well as quickly maneuver to an opponent's side and gain extra damage for executing back attacks. He has the shortest range, but he is the fastest. Since his attacks are quickly executed, Eight can abuse the Killsight function.

Nine wields a spear and has a close-range aggressive and powerful battle style resembling that of a Dragoon. He can spin his spear around to attack and is good with critical hits. He is an ideal tank during boss fights or a good partner for long-ranged characters. His attacks often have a delay, which means timing is crucial for him.

Jack wields a katana and boasts the highest Strength, but is the slowest-moving character, meaning using him takes precision. He attacks quickly, but players must either have Jack sheath his weapon for him to run normally, or resort to sidestepping with his weapon to move around the field easily. His abilities rely on timing, especially for counterattacking. If timed correctly, Jack can make short work of his enemies, as he can kill most foes in one hit.

Queen in battle.

Queen wields a sword and has great movement speed. Her regular attack is a combination of slashes and lunges that finishes with a jumping attack. Queen is perhaps the most balanced character among the party, as while boasting an above average Strength, she doesn't excel in any particular area. She is flexible as she can adapt to any role to better assist her teammates. As such, she is suitable for beginners.

King wields dual handguns and needs to reload when depleted, leaving him vulnerable while he does so. His Hi-Cap Magazine skills can be unlocked to increase his ammo capacity and minimize the amount of times he has to reload in battle. Despite being a ranged character King can handle close-quarters combat, with a powerful kick attack that can also be used while re-loading. He can rapidly fire-off shots, useful in taking out multiple enemies at a ranged distance. He has the lowest defense in Class Zero and is a poor magic user; his MP is better suited for assigning him a support skill.

Machina attcking.

Machina dual-wields a pair of drill-shaped rapiers. He favors melee fighting, and his battle style is based on chaining fast combos, which enables him to exploit the Killsight function.

Rem dual-wields a pair of daggers and she attacks in quick slashes and stabs in an erratic pattern. Rem boasts the highest MP and magic stats, and her various conditions for the Magic Cancel ability allow her to cast spells quickly and instantly. She has several abilities that allow her to restore MP and thus, continue casting magic. Combined with her quick movement speed, Rem can become the most powerful party member.

As Final Fantasy Type-0 started as Final Fantasy Agito XIII as part of the "Final Fantasy XIII series" of the Fabula Nova Crystallis, it was planned the game would have thirteen+1 playable characters. Tetsuya Nomura came up with the idea of having 1–13 and a "Joker" when the project was kicked off as a mobile title within the Final Fantasy XIII series. Final Fantasy Type-0 team liked the idea and continued to use it for the PlayStation Portable version.[1] One playable character ended up being taken out, and two more characters (Machina and Rem) were added into the roster, ending with fourteen playable characters.[2]Joker is still in the game as a secret assist, but is not directly controllable. The inspiration for such a large cast came from the traditional Japanese war dramas that were popular and featured several characters.[3]

As the game has no main hero, Square Enix referred to Hollywood movies for how to distribute the focus among the cast equally. "We see a lot of movies that put a focus on numerous characters vs. one protagonist," director Hajime Tabata has said. "[I] really wanted to focus on the unit as an entity ... really put a spotlight on the unit as a whole and view their actions from slightly afar."[4] After it was decided the game was going to have an ensemble cast, Tabata sat down with Tetsuya Nomura to design each class member. They wrote down each character's personality traits complete with strengths, weaknesses and faults, and decided how they would be expressed in the game. From these templates Nomura drew up the character designs, as each needed to be a distinct individual able to stand on their own as the "main character" even without the rest of the class. Tabata has mused that even if every member turned out not to be equally developed he thinks they got close to the effect he had wanted to achieve and was pleased with the results.[5]

According to the Nameless Tome, sixteen locus arrive in the world at a certain moment in the form of human beings to see if they have the strength to prevent Finis and open the gateway. The Class Zero's roles as the locus was added near the end of development cycle. The cadets had the roles and personalities decided, but the developers were unsure how to present the background. Neared the end of development the team felt that adding the element of fate and the Fabula Nova Crystallis mythology was a good idea and asked the scenario writers to squeeze it in.[6] The Nameless Tome refers to the locus starting as one before it became ten and six. Director Hajime Tabata has said this phrase does not mean it was ever a single person, but rather the element required for Agito. Arecia, in the course of attempting to create Agito, started to realize that the element she was looking for was something individuals hold and thus gathered children to complete the element to become Agito.[6]

Class Zero's ending was in the plans from very early stage. The theme of their story was going to be about deciding the way to live and to die.[6]

"Zero" is a recurring theme in Final Fantasy Type-0. In-game, the class is named thus being the premier class of Agito Cadets in Akademeia, the class numbering loosely indicating prestige within the academy. Initially the classes ran from First to Twelfth, and when a new class was introduced to the system, it was named Class Zero. Class Zero also refers to the class's clandestine nature as Arecia Al-Rashia's secret project, as though there had been rumors, Rem and Machina are surprised to find Class Zero actually exists when they are registered into its ranks. The "zero" thus represents a class that did not officially exist.

The word Type followed by a number is a common way to name a weapon or product in a production series, similar in meaning to "Mark". "Type" was used by the Japanese and Chinese militaries beginning in the 1920s, and is still in use by the Chinese military. The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) began using the Type-Number System in 1921 to designate aircraft accepted for production. As 1940 was the 2600th year, the IJN numbering system was reset to single digits and new aircraft were designated 0 (zero). The Mitsubishi A6M Zero was ordered into production in 1940 as the IJN "Type 0 Carrier Fighter", and was popularly called the "Zero". This is what the game's name, Final Fantasy Type-0, likely alludes to, and refers to Class Zero being the "weapon" used by the Dominion of Rubrum. The "type" designation is also used elsewhere in the Japanese game, with the types of l'Cie being referred to as Type-A and Type-B.

The word "zero" came into the English language via French zéro from Italian zero, Italian contraction of Venetian zevero form of Italian zefiro via ṣafira or ṣifr. In pre-Islamic time the word ṣifr had the meaning "empty".

To juxtapose with the name "Class Zero" its members' names are values of playing cards, excluding the two "outside" members Machina and Rem. Within the real world military, particularly in the ranks of the United States, playing and tarot cards are sometimes used in individual platoons and companies in lots of the draw for the sake of good luck and foresight, especially if in the face of an oncoming war or mission, and for psychological readiness in the face of the unpredictability of battle. This aspect of Class Zero highlights their purpose as Rubrum's ultimate class, capable of turning the flow of battle to their side.

Rem's name comes from rei (零) and mu (無), which literally translates to "not zero".

Kurasame's tonberry wears Class Zero's uniform, as does Moglin, the class moogle, and the Cactuar that lives in Akademeia.

The theme of school children and teenagers to engage in war preparation and military service appears to be lifted from the real life practices of Showa era education in Japan where not only the enrollment of children into military schooling was common, everyday students were also instilled with much of the Imperialist propaganda of the age, along with being trained in martial arts and military training in the fear that Allied Nations would invade the country.

The sequence where Class Zero makes their stand as Ace drives the flag of Rubrum atop a hill appears to draw inspiration from the famous photo Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima.

The Class Second moogle disdains Class Zero for having "stolen away" Machina from hir class, and calls it derisive names like "class zilch", "class nada" and "class zippo".

The cadets of Class Zero are pejoratively called "red demons" (朱の魔人, Aka no Majin?) by their imperial foes, deferentially referring to their use of magic, proficiency in combat, and their allegiance to Rubrum.